Centra Bedford Memorial Hospital is about to embark on an expansion of its emergency department.

In order to do that, the hospital needs a temporary home for that department while the work is being done. The solution is to temporarily move it to the second floor of the old hospital building. It will use parking in the area currently dedicated to administrative parking. There will be directional signs that will show people where they need to go. Volunteers will also be on hand to help people find their way.

Avenel Foundation marks the annual running of the Kentucky Derby with a festive event that serves as a major fundraiser. The Foundation exists to maintain the historic home.
Avenel was built by Col. William Burwell to serve as a home for his family and his in-laws. That’s why the house has such a complex internal stair system. The two families shared the public areas of the house, but each had their own private section.

Bedford County’s Love Letters will be unveiled next week at the Bedford Welcome Center.

These Love Letters are not amorous missives. The are actual, large, metal letters that spell out the word “LOVE.” It’s part of a state-wide tourism branding project and localities around the state are doing it. This initiative of the Virginia Tourism Corporation started in 2012.
However, Bedford’s Love Letters are unique.

Moved by the devastation farmers in the Midwest have been dealing with because of wildfires, a group of area residents have been reaching out to help their counterparts in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas.

Brigadier General Lapthe Flora was the speaker in the first of a series of talks at the Bedford Welcome Center, sponsored by the National D-Day Memorial, marking the centennial of America’s entry into World War I. Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of the United State’s declaration of war on the German Empire.

The feature film Juanita, which will spend a week filming in the Bedford area, has put out a casting call for extras.
Work in Bedford is expected to take place April 30-May 5.
In the story line Juanita untethers herself from her exhausting life and sets out on a bus to an unknown destination and future. The film is based on the novel “Dancing on the Edge of the Roof” by Sheila Williams. The screenplay is by Roderick Spencer.

The Montvale Fire Department has purchased a new pumper, a brand new Pierce Rescue Engine with a tank capacity of 1,000 gallons.

According to Montvale Fire Chief Scott Hawkins, the truck was bought through the county’s fire apparatus replacement rotation. The truck cost $520,000 and the county put up $260,000 of that amount. The fire department had to raise the rest. This price does not include the cost of the equipment the truck carries.

The Bedford Museum opened an exhibit this month that marks the centennial of America’s entry into World War I. The United States declared war on the German Empire, and its allies, on April 6, 1917.

Grace Peterson, the Museum’s archivist and business manager, arranged the display, selecting items loaned to the Museum by Lee Anthony. Peterson said the greatest difficulty in setting up the exhibit was deciding what not to put in the limited space she had to work with.